AS the Douglas Shire makes significant roads to promote the banning of plastic bags, Palm Cove could see a community-wide ban within the next six months.

If this goes ahead, Palm Cove will be the first Great Barrier Reef town to go plastic bag free.

Cr Brett Olds said the move to replace plastic bags with hessian would not eliminate pollution, but it was “a little step in the right direction.”

“We should care about the turtles and the Reef. We’ve seen what happens to animals when they eat plastic bags,” he said.

“I talked to the owner of the supermarket, and he’s keen as mustard. Our plan is to supply them with the first 10,000 or 15,000 (hessian bags) at no cost to the shop owners.

“Cairns Regional Council is seeking advertisers to buy into the hessian bag scheme to cover the cost,” he said.

Meanwhile in the Douglas Shire, the Business Ambassador Program is picking up speed with 52 businesses, from market stalls to the Wildlife Habitat, committing to refrain from distributing single-use plastic bags in return for rights to display the Keep Paradise Plastic Free logo and certificate, and be promoted on Facebook and website.

Organisers of Plastic Free Douglas were well represented at the recent World Cassowary Day at Cape Tribulation on September 24. Their Plastic Free Douglas stall assisted in spreading the message to people from around Australia and the world.

Volunteers are being sought to help at occasional stalls at Port Douglas and Mossman markets. If you have a couple of hours to help save the world from single-use plastic bags, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Louise at loula_d@bigpond.com.